Keeping the Faith: Jean Stuntz [Buddhist]

Friday

Oct 25, 2013 at 12:28 PM

Jean Stuntz grew up in a traditionally Christian household, with a Southern Baptist mother and a Methodist father whose parents and grandparents were missionaries. Raised Methodist, she left the church in her late teens "because of the hypocrisy I saw there."

Then and now, she found organized religion to be lacking. "It's not very good at practicing what it preaches," she says. "There are too many internal power struggles… for people to be still and know God. Most churches I know of around here do not do as Jesus told us to do. They do not help the least of these. They judge all the time. They do not seek the Kingdom of God but the power and riches of this material life."

Though Christianity and the Methodist denomination held no appeal for her, Jean didn't abandon religious pursuits altogether. Soon after exiting the Christian church, she began studying Buddhism and was drawn to how it values personal spiritual development, as well as its lack of focus on material things. Around a decade ago, Jean was introduced to Taoism, an ancient philosophy and religious belief that originated in China. Though philosophically related to Buddhism in many ways, Taoism seemed a better fit - particularly the religion's emphasis on self-development, moral virtue and the importance of living in harmony with nature.

"It teaches me to love everyone because we are all one. We are all holy. We are all on our path to Enlightenment," Jean says. "I live in awe and gratitude for this amazing world."

Jean doesn't attend a local Buddhist or Taoist temple, but practices her faith on her own, supporting organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, and GreaterGood, as well as showing compassion to those who might be suffering. "I keep water bottles in my car to hand to people begging in the street. I knit scarves, shawls and caps for people who live on the street. When I see people on the fringe, I acknowledge them and their innate holiness. I smile and talk to them instead of ignoring them. Every once in a while I am moved to give them money," she says.

Jean also belongs to a local chapter of the Lions Club and believes the community service organization does "a lot of good" in the city and surrounding area.

Without her faith and religious practice, Jean speculates that her life would be very different. "I would be mean, ego-centered, selfish, ambitious, greedy and hostile," she says. Though her personal self-assessment skews negative, Jean tries to find good in the people she encounters on a daily basis - and says that approach has everything to do with her religious beliefs. "I do not try to convert anyone," she says. "Each person has their own path to follow. I explain my path as getting close to what is real, to what is True, to what is God. I live in harmony with my surroundings and with my soul."

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